Lots of Ponying

Hey All!! I have been a little busy this past week, I was gone to the (Saddlebred) World Grand Champoionship Horse Show. Last week Baja and I spent alot of time ponying and desensitizing. Early last week I rode him, and he was still just a nervous wreck about my feet touching his shoulder and he was still very reluctant to go forward. So, I did a whole lot of ponying and worked up to being able to put my toe on his shoulder while he was walking alongside BooBoo.

He has gotten alot better and I've ponied him all over and out in the field/woods. I also started putting boots on his legs which was hilarious the first day as he was high-stepping it when he walked. He was picking his back feet up almost as high as his hip!!! I also added a breastcollar onto the saddle.

One day last week, I rasped all four of his hooves, he was a very good boy for that. Today I lunged him, did rope work, ponied again and then introduced the clippers to him. He did really well ponying today after having several days off, I even got him to do 360 degrees of a spin each direction! Yay!!

I hope to get more riding in the rest of this week and really get him moving... His favorite speed right now is Whoa!!!

Riding, Riding, Riding

We have been working on riding all week. We have a pretty good routine, grooming, pick feet, saddle up, lunge, do up-high work until he is OK with it, then do mounting. I have had someone leading us off every day so far, just so we don't have any problems, then we go solo after a while. He is riding pretty well now, but I am still cautious, we have done walk, trot, fig 8, serpentines, trotting poles, cones and circles. I am about ready to start venturing outside. He still gets a little squirrely now and then, but today I figured out that it mostly happens when my foot brushes his shoulder, so we will work on that.

He is ground tying well, I can groom and saddle him without tying him up, and today in the arena I was able to park him and walk all over and around without him moving. I was also able to pick up his feet today out in the arena without tying him up. I have been hosing him off every day, which he is doing well with, and putting hoof conditioner on his feet. I think we will work on more obstacles, ponying, and desensitizing to objects later in the week.

Oh! Legacy is haltered and grooming now and starting to lead!! Yay for Legacy!!!

First Ride

I finally got a video clip to load! This was from this past weekend, you could call this our first official ride, off of the lead rope, riding astride. Baja is making alot of progress with his riding now. I think he has decided that I'm OK on top of him, I'm still pretty cautious though. I just loved the commentary from my 6 year old son, Nate, who was taking the video!

Today I had him walking and trotting and doing circles under saddle. He also let me pick out his back feet today, which was a big step!!

For those of you who have been wondering about the yearling filly we got, her name is Legacy. She has been more high energy and afraid than Baja, but she is starting to come around now. Also, Erica (her youth trainer) has not been putting the time and consistency into her that she needs. So, myself and some of my customers have been working with her some to get her gentled. She is accepting contact now and we can brush her all over. I'm guessing we will have her haltered and leading by the end of the week. Here she is with Marion:

One Month!!!

I can't believe one month has gone by since we brought the mustangs home!! It has been a good month, and I am proud of the progress Baja has made. I am really ready to start putting in lots of riding miles, he is doing well with all of his groundwork and handling. This past week I have been working on riding, getting him used to carrying my weight and seeing me on top of him. He is really OK with the weight, he has just been very concerned with me being above him. So, I've been doing lots of up-high work around him, on the mounting block, walking back and forth on the arena wall while leading him, etc. He is finally getting better about it. I did alot of aside riding this week until he would walk calmly with me riding aside, both being led and alone. Last night I went astride and after a short fit, he settled down to being led with me astride.

We have also worked this week on standing tied (which he is OK with), picking up his feet (we have made progress with the fronts, still have work to do on the hinds), and he is good with hosing, grooming, fly spray, and brushing his tail. I also braided his mane and trimmed his bridle path. He seems to really enjoy being a more "domesticated" horse, he looks forward to feeding time, has been staying in a stall at night, and likes to "meet-and-greet" anyone who goes up to him. He is a very people-friendly horse. Today I had him out while there were alot of other people in the barn and he wanted to check everybody out. Then we walked out and did some obstacle work, he went over the bridge like a champ! He was a little worried about the plastic barrels, but he is so curious he gets over it quickly!

Here he is waiting to be let into the barn:



His feet are still pretty tender when he walks over the rocks. I am trying iodine on the bottoms for a couple of days and if that doesn't help, I may try a product called Sole-Guard which helps protect the bottom of the barefooted hoof.

I've tried to load some video, but the file is too large, so I'll keep posting pics unless I can figure out how to compress video.

Day 22

I kept wondering how Baja's water tub is getting dirty so quickly. I am having to dump it out every couple of days and it always has tons of dirt and gravel in the bottom. Well, yesterday I found out why...

I was out cleaning his pen and he walks over to the water tub, picks up his hoof, and starts dunking his foot up and down in the water. He procedes to wash both front feet in the tub!! Now I see... He thinks it is his own personal footbath!

Today I cleaned out the tub and then he came over to investigate. I started spraying the hose at him and he just stood there, lapping the water with his tongue. He is such a character!

Oh! and I forgot 2 steps to my saddle-breaking procedure... start having them move off while my weight is on them, and then start having someone lead (or pony) with me hanging on the side of the horse until I can ease my other leg over. Unfortunately, I got in a hurry and skipped those steps, my bad... Now I remember why I'd rather train and instruct rather than break horses for a living!!!

Day 20

Hey!!

Well, Baja is getting really close to being ready to ride. I'm sure he will have his first ride within the next day or two. Although for the competition it may not be the best thing to be getting such a slow start on actually riding him, I feel it has been the best way to do things for him and me. I like to have the horse pretty well broke before I get on them. Broke to all the ground work, broke to the saddle and bridle, ground driving, standing next to the mounting block, the mounting routine, putting weight in the stirrup and hopping up and down, putting weight on their back, moving the saddle and fenders around, rubbing them all over from the opposite side, bearing all my weight on each side. That's where I am with Baja, so now it's time to ride!!

Day before yesterday (Day 18), I went through the entire grooming routine, adding currying first all over (he stood rock still for that), body brush, hoof picking, combing his mane, face brush, and fly spray. He was really good with the spray which surprised me. He even let me spray his nose! Then he made faces about it, but let me spray him all over including his legs and belly. We went for a walk again all over the place and out in the pasture, then went in the indoor and did trotting in hand, lunging, stepping over the jumps, and playing with the big ball. Later in the day I hosed him off with the hose!

Yesterday was really hot and humid, plus he had been limpy on the rocks the day before, so I turned him out in a grassy paddock to give his feet a break and let him eat some grass. He is already so chunky that I don't want him to eat too much grass and get chubby, so he is back in his pen at night. I may start putting him in a stall at night so he can get used to that.

Today, I took him in the barn for his grooming/saddling routine, and he was really good. Then I took him out to the roundpen and worked on lunging, groundsteering, mounting routine and mounting block. By the end, he was standing still with me on the mounting block (talking on the phone) with my foot in the stirrup, elbow on the seat and all of my weight on him. Sounds like it's time to ride!!!

Day 17

Well, today was a good day. I cleaned Baja's pen earlier in the day and he was his usual curious, mischievous self. He was trying to drag the manure bucket around by the handle and dump it. This afternoon I groomed him, and then saddled him up. I guess with all the surcingle work, the saddle was a non-issue to him. I worked on the mounting block on both sides with him, having me above him is his biggest issue right at the moment. After letting him wear the saddle around for awhile, I went back in and put the bit and reins on him, did some bending and steering work with some ground-driving. Then we worked on the mounting block/high up stuff again until he started accepting it better.

After that I took the saddle, bit/reins off of him and decided it was time for him to get out of the pen and go for a walk. Getting him through the gateways/doorways was the biggest challenge, otherwise, he was really good. He just was real hesitant at going through them. I took him in and walked him around in the indoor arena first, then we visited Chester at his stall, went out through the far hallway to the outdoor arena, back in and up the back hallway, across the concrete to go visit Angel at her stall, and then out the front and back to his pen. He was really very good, curious, and a little hesitant when things were close in. I think the biggest riding issue we will have once I get him over the me high-up thing will just be getting him moving. He tends to be low energy.

Also, he was a bit limpy again today after a hard day of ponying yesterday, so please continue to pray for his legs/feet.

Day 16

Hey! Yesterday I started ponying Baja with BooBoo. He was very resistant at first and we had to take it one step at a time. I had him walking beside BooBoo by the end. We also did more bitting and sacking out work.

Today I did the same thing, working more on his resistant right side. I had him trotting, but he is still a little resistant at times. I also have been working on picking up his feet, grooming him all over every day, wearing the surcingle and bit every day, and jumping up and down around him. Today I started working on the mounting block around him, he didn't like me being up high, but finally started getting used to it. I think I will put a saddle on him tomorrow and we will start getting out and about soon. He is leading pretty good now, moving off of me as we turn, backing, yielding hindquarters, etc.